Method and apparatus for transporting factory constructed housing units

ABSTRACT

A system including method and apparatus for transporting and placing on site foundations factory constructed housing units, completely finished interiorly to provide integral and mechanically operable living spaces ranging in size to a maximum floor area in excess of 4,000 square feet. The system includes coordinated transfer and transporting units, the latter units including both marine vessels and land vehicles, which with the transfer devices are capable of maintaining at all times throughout overall system operation of factory shipping and project phases, a continuous foundation-like support to supply substantially the same measure of structural integrity to the housing unit as that supplied by a permanent foundation. The housing units of which the interior is finished completely at the factory, including interior painting, carpeting and draperies as well as other operational units such as kitchens, bathrooms, heating and airconditioning units and the like, is, after placement on the permanent site foundation, completed exteriorly by on-site placement of roofs, exterior appendages such as garages, porches, large items of exterior trim, exterior chimneys and the like.

United States Patent r191 Lewis et a1.

[ June 25, 1974 Primary Examiner-George E. A. Halvosa AssistantExaminer-Sherman D. Basinger Attorney,'Agent, or Firm--Lane, Aitken,Dunner &

ABSTRACT A system including method and apparatus for transporting andplacing on site foundations factory constructed housing units,completely finished interiorly to provide integral and mechanicallyoperable living spaces ranging in size to a maximum floor area in excessof 4,000 square feet. The system includes coordinated transfer andtransporting units, the latter units including both marine vessels andland vehicles, which with the transfer devices are capable ofmaintaining at all times throughout overall system operation of factoryshipping and project phases, a continuousfoundation-like support tosupply substantially the same measure of structural integrity to thehousing unit as that supplied by a permanent foundation. The housingunits of which the interior is finished completely at the factory,including interior painting, carpeting and draperies as well as otheroperational units such as kitchens, bathrooms, heating andairconditioning units and the like, is, after placement on the permanentsite foundation, completed exteriorly by on-site placement of roofs,exterior appendages such as garages, porches, large items of exteriortrim, exterior chimneys and the like.

6 Claims, 35 Drawing Figures METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTINGFACTORY CONSTRUCTED HOUSING UNITS [75] Inventors: Eugene C. Lewis,Scotch Plains,

N.J.; c. Robert Gottlieb, Mobile, zlems Ala; Robert H. Macy, Pascagoula,MISS. 57

[73] Assignee: Diamondhead Corporation,

Mountainside, N.J. 22] Filed: se tzi, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 291,033

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 163,935, Sept.19, 1971.

[52] U.S. C1 114/72, 294/81 SF, 294/67 DB, f 214/12 [51] Int. Cl 'B63b25/00 [58] Field of Search 114/72, 75, 76, 43.5; 294/67 BC, 106, 81 SF,67 DB; 214/12, 14, 15 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS1,900,867 3/1933 Olds 114/72 3,034,659 5/1962 Willison et a1. .1 214/15R 3,083,670 4/1963 Harlander et a1 1 114/75 3,624,736 11/1971 lwami114/72 3,680,518 8/1972 Tabuchi et a1. 114/72 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 697,687 11/1964 Canada 294/81 R 26 I j a s; fb m w :L 88 6"a if 90 g9 06 ml 106 Z PATENTEBJIJNZSIBM sum 01 or 15- mom O mm m mum;62636212, 5% W N v a 0 nS IODOL; @2360 D In. E

Food EEQ NC. 5 h

g\ PHHL 3 GI PATENTEDJUNZSIBM sum 03 or 15 PATENTEB JUN 2 5 I974 sum asor 15 PATENTEDJUHZSIQH I I 3,818,852

sum 090:1;

FIG. /0. Q4

PAIENTED JUNE 5 I974 sum -1aur1 5 FIG/Z PATENTEDJUNESW 3 .8 1 8,852

sum 13 or 15 FIG/8.

PATENTEI] JUNE 51974 sum 1a or 15 PATENIED 3.818.852

sum 15oF 15 FIG. 24.

. 11 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING FACTORY COl JSTRUC'I'ILDHOUSING UNITS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a divisionof application Ser. No. 163,935 filed July 19,1971.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a system forbuilding and transporting housing units. More particularly, it concernsa method and apparatus by which factory-built integral housing units,each provided with completely finished, mechanically operable, interiorliving space, are transported over water and/or land to a building sitelocated many miles from the factory and transferred to permanent sitefoundations in the development of residential real estate.

In recent years, home builders have turned more and more to the use offactory-built or pre-fabricated structural components which can betransported for final assembly and finishing at remotely locatedpermanent building sites. The reasons for this trend in home build-.'ing, though numerous, are oriented largely to reducing the costs ofmaterials and labor. Although most materials conventionally used in homebuilding are not especially expensive at their source or origin, thestorage, shipment and handling operations incident to getting suchmaterials to remotely located individual building sites increases theircost to a point where the price for materials payed by the ultimate homepurchaser is many times the cost at the original source of supply. Quiteobviously, much of the material handling and distribution expensesassociated with conventional on-site home construction, not to mentionwork hold-ups and delays caused by interruptions in the distributionstage, can be eliminated by centralized material inventories availableto a factory.

An even greater increment of expense is incurred as a result of theproblems attendant to procurring and maintaining an adequate work forceof personnel required for on-site home construction. Because of the manyspecialized skills required in the construction of a home, many of whichare mutually exclusive by choice of labor unions, a home builder musteither engage in a substantial amount of subcontracting or retain on hispayroll a work force of substantial size in order to have available themany skills needed. The vast amount of tract development in this countryduring recent decades, in which large numbers of homes are built inindividual construction projects, can be attributed in good measuretoproviding a home builder with a basis for maintaining a sufficientnumber of workers to meet the requirements for specialized skills whileat the same time showing a margin of profit. Even in large tractdevelopments, however, such unpredictable factors as weather and workstoppages resulting therefrom contribute to added expense to on-siteconstruction.

Although factory pre-fabrication of such readily transported buildingcomponents as roof trusses, wall units, preassembled window and doorunits and the like have been widely accepted by the home buildingindustry, the aforementioned problems associated with onsiteconstruction have led to increased employment of factory pre-fabricationtechniques. It has become conventional practice, for example, to buildat a factory LII substantially complete housing modules which are inreality pieces or sections of a complete home or dwell ing unit exceptin cases of units having less than approximately 900 sq. ft. of singlefloor area. Modules of this type are then shipped over land by truck orrailway to remotely located building sites at which two or more suchmodules are assembled on a foundation to provide the complete housingunit. In this way, the handling and distribution costs normally incurredare reduced by building material inventories at the factory site andmoreover, it is possible to maintain steady or continuous employment forconstruction laborers as well as increasedspecialization of skills withmore efficiency and savings of labor cost to the builder.

A major difficulty with factory pre-fabricated modules of the typeheretofore used, however, lies in the architectural restraints imposedby the size and shape of modules which can be transported by landsystems of transportation. Specifically, the maximum width of modulewhich can be transported by rail or highway is in the range of 10 to 14ft. depending on local regulations. Where two such units are placed sideby side in the finished home, as is most often the case, the maximumwidth of the home is onlyt24 ft. Hence, larger sizes of homesconstructed in this manner tend to be long and narrow in relation toconventionally constructed homes of like size with the result that roomson opposite sides of a corridor extending longitudinally of the house,for example, tend to be narrower than desirable. Though obviously, morethan two such modules might be used in each house to circumvent thisproblem, either architectural design of the resulting house suffers fromthe use of 12 ft. (for example) modular increments or module sizescommensurate with less than maximum use of the transportation facilityare required. Also, the added on-site labor required in the assembly oftwo, three or more modules detracts significantly from the economicrationale for factory prefabrication and thus becomes less than favoredpractice.

Another problem with land transportation of modular units is broughtabout by the physical abuse inflicted on the modules duringtransportation at normal railway or highway speeds inthe range of 30 to50 mph. of necessity in order to stay within the existing stream oftraffic. To overcome this problem, either specialized constructionmaterials and/or techniques must be employed or a substantial amount offinishing and repair must be carried out at the final site, Thoughspecialized construction can satisfy the functional requirements forhousing modules, much of the aesthetic qualities sought after by theprospective home buyer lie in the warmth and security of traditionalbuilding materials and construction techniques. lnasmuch as a homerepresents the largest single purchase of most families,

I such aesthetic qualities must be provided if the house is to be soldunder normal economic criteria. Because the modular approach to factorypre-fabricated home building has beenunable to meet the aesthetic orarchitectural standards of homes built on site, some of the homesconstructed from modules have been aesthetically adequate for thelow-cost housing market but have not been accepted in the market formoderate and higher priced homes.

It is apparent therefore, that major strides have been made by thebuilding industry in meeting the spiraling costs of on-site homeconstruction by turning more and more to the use of factorypre-fabricated components and modular units. It is equally apparent,however, that there exists in the industry a need for a more completeuse of factory pre-fabrication of complete housing units by which theamount of on-site construction and finishing operations is even furtherreduced without sacrifice of aesthetics and sound architectural design.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention, there is provided a fully coordinated transportation andhandling system by which factory-built housing units, completelyfinished and providing mechanically operable interior living spacesranging in size to a maximum floor area in excess of 4,000 sq. ft., maybe transported by marine vessels such as barges by way of either or bothof available sea and inland waterways and then transferred by specialland vehicle to permanent site foundations for completion of exteriorappendages, roofs and trim. The housing units, though factory-built, areconstructed entirely from conventional building materials to provide aconventional organization of structural components primarily to satisfythe aesthetic appeal and warmth of tradition. In an overall operationcontext, the invention contemplates successive factory, shipping andproject phases during which the housing units are at all times handledor carried by structural devices capable of supplying to the housingunits substantially the same measure of structural integrityconventionally supplied by a permanent site foundation. Hence, acomplete cycle of construction, transportation and site placement may beachieved without damage to interior finishes on such conventionalconstruction materials as plaster, dry walls, and the like. In thetransportation phase of the overall system and where a combination ofsea-going and inland waterway barges are required, a sea-going barge isloaded from a dock in the proximity of the factory using either a dockcrane or a barge crane equipped with a spreader lift mechanism designedto supply a foundation-like support to each housing unit and cooperablewith hold cell structures within the barge to facilitate placement ofthe housing units therein in accordance with a preestablished placementscheme. The sea-going barge crane is employed to unload the housingunits from the seagoing barge for placement at a project destinationdock site or in smaller inland waterway or river barges again using thespreader lift on the sea-going barge crane.

Upon reaching a project docking facility, the river barges are docked byballasting at least one end thereof on a stable structure whereby acrane-like straddle vehicle, again equipped with thespreader liftstructure, removes the housing units from the river barge for placementat the project docking terminal. The units are transported from theterminal directly to individual site foundations on low surface reactionland vehicles or truck-like transporters using roadways between the dockand the project as well as preconstructed project streets. Afterplacement on the site foundations, exterior appendages such as garages,porches and the like are added, as are roofs and other special exteriortrim projections in excess of 6 inches. The placement of roofs andexterior appendages at the project site both facilitates the shippingphase of the system and, more significantly, enables the exteriorarchitecture of the house to be varied as desired to achieve anaesthetically pleasing project development.

Among the objects of the present invention are therefore: the provisionof an unique, coordinated system for the construction, transportation,and placement of housing units having completely finished andmechanically operable interior living space; the provision of animproved method and apparatus by which the aforementioned inten'orlyfinished housing units may be handled effectively during transfer andtransporting operations incident to moving the units from the factory toa remotely located building project without damage to the units; theprovision of such a method and apparatus by which maximum efficiency oftransporting equipment may be achieved; the provision of a method andapparatus of the type referred to enabling maximum employment of factorypre-fabrication construction techniques without in any way sacrificingarchitectural design in either the housing units individually or in thearchitectural design and aesthetic appearance of an overall housingdevelopment or project; the provision of an improved marine system forshipping housing units of the type referred to as well as other largecargo units having similar characteristics; and the provision of novel,structurally coordinated handling and transporting components forhousing units of the type referred to.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the presentinvention will become apparent from the detailed description to followtaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A through ID are schematicillustrations providing a flow sheet of the overall operationcontemplated by the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic or line drawing in perspective, the lines thereofrepresenting basic structural components in a conventional housing unit;

FIGS. 3A through 3C are sectional views showing alternative forms oftypical floor and foundation arrangements for the housing units to beconstructed, transported and placed in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, partially in section, illustrating thesea-going barge forming part of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a transverse section through the barge illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view partially cut away andshowing the hold cell organization of the barge shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section showing the housing unitsupport structure within the hold cells of the barge illustrated in FIG.4;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of one embodiment of a spreader lift used inhandling the housing units during barge loading and unloadingoperations;

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the spreader lift shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross-section taken on line l010 of FIG. 9;

FIG, 11 is an end view of the spreader lift illustrated in FIGS. 8 and9;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken on line l2l2 ofFIG. 9;

FIG. I3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken on line l3-13 ofFIG. 10;

FIGS. 14A-14F are schematic plan views illustrating the various loadingschemes for the hold cells in the sea-going barge of FIG. 4;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating an inland waterway orriver barge of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken on line 19-19 ofFIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the project bargeterminal in accordance with the inven tron;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a unit carrier adaptedto be transported with the river barge but in position at the projectbarge terminal shownin FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a plan view showing a special transporter by which thehousing units'are transported from the barge terminal to the individualsite foundations at the project;

FIG. 23 is aside elevation showing thetransporter of FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a side elevation showing transfer of a housing unit from thetransporter to a permanent site foundation using a project crane; and

FIG. 25 is a side elevation of the lift spreader being handled by theproject crane at the foundation site.

DETAILED. DESCRIPTION'OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A generalunderstanding of the overall operation contemplated by the practice ofthe present invention may be had by reference to FIG. IA through FIG. IDof the drawings. Basically, the overall operation is logically separatedinto a factory phase depicted by FIG. 1A; a shipment phase depicted FIG.1B; and a project phase depicted by FIGS. IC and 1D. Duringthe factoryphase and as suggested by the legends employed in FIG. 1A, a continuousmanuracturing cycle is completed under a roof generally designated bythe reference numeral 10 by assembling a floor unit I I on a suitablemovable carriage such as a dolly l2 initially positioned on the extremeleft end of the factory as depicted by FIG. 1A. Thereafter, the floorunit 11 and the dolly 12 are advanced through successive stations underthe roof 10, at which stations various components of the completemechanically operable housing unit are placed on the floor supported bythe dolly. As illustrated, completion of the floor is followed by theplacement thereon of complete kitchen and bath modules l4 and 16 andthen by the assembly of interior and exterior walls. Also, though notshown in the drawing, heating and airconditioning installation will bemade at this time. Thereafter, a completely finished ceiling unit isplaced over the interior and exterior walls and secured in place tocomplete the basic structural organization of the housing unit. Inaccordance with the invention, all interior walls. as well as interiorceiling surfaces will be completely finished and painted during themanufacturing phase. Also, conventional materials will be usedthroughout. Hence, following the assembly of the ceiling with theinterior walls it will be appreciated that the corner joints whichresult between the ceiling and the walls, each of which in themselveshaving been previously finished, will haveto be touched up such as byjoint taping in the event conventional gypsum board or dry wall panelingis employed. After such touch-up operations, the interior of the housingunit is completed by placement of carpeting, draperies, fixtures andother such interior trim as might be expected in a conventional homeinterior.

The completed mechanically operable interiorly finished housing unit,designated in the drawings by the reference numeral 20, is packaged witha water impervious wrapping of appropriate weather resistant sheetmaterial to complete the factory phase. It will be noted that thehousing unit 20 at this time, though completely finished interiorly, iswithout a roof structure or exterior appendages such as garages, porchesand the like. The omission of the roof structure and exterior appendagesat this phase of the overall operation has the apparent advantage offacilitating shipment of the housing units. In addition, however, itprovides a very significant architectural advantage in achieving desiredexterior appearance of the ultimate house in its final position. Inother words, though each of the housing units is of cubic configurationat the factory, a wide variety of diverse exterior designs may beeffected by the selection of the particular roof and exterior appendagesto be added at the project phase of operations. It is further noted atthis point that the housing units 20 are depicted in FIGS. lA-lD assingle story units. As will be apparent from the more detaileddescription of the transporting and handling components of the overallsystem, the invention contemplates the factory prefabrication, shippingand project placement of two story units having an overall heightapproximating twice that of a single story unit. Also, severalvariations in length of the units 20 are contemplated. Thus, thefacility offered by the present invention for providing a wide range ofsizes and interior designs of completely integrated housing units willbe appreciated. To maximize efficiency in the shipping and projectphases, however, a uniform width of the housing units 20 will beretained. In the practice of the present invention, a common width ofthirty feet has been found desirable principally from the standpoint ofproviding required facility for architectural planning of the housinginterior.

In the shipment phase of the present invention, either one or both of acombination of sea andriver or inland shipping waterways will be used.Hence, and where the factory phase and the project phase are separatedby sea lanes, the housing units 20, after having been packaged at thefactory 10, are transferred from the factory dolly 12 to an ocean orsea-going barge 22 either by a wharf crane 24 or by a barge crane 26each equipped with a spreader lift 28 to be described in more detailbelow. Also in a manner which will become more apparent from thedescription to follow, the sea-going barge 22 is equipped with means(not shown in FIG. 1B) for supporting the housing units one above theother in tiers.

Following ocean shipment, the housing units 20 are transferred, usingthe sea-going barge crane 26, to one or more river barges 30 equipped inthe embodiment shown, with a wheeled carrier 32 having a spreader liftunit 28a. Although use of both the sea-going barge 22 and one or moreriver barges 30 is essential to shipment of the housing units whereocean waterways are involved, it is contemplated that the shipment phasemay be carried out using only the river barges in situations where thefactory is located on an inland waterway or a river on which access maybe had to the location of the project.

Upon completion of the shipment phase of the operations with arrival ofthe river barges at the project site, the project phase of operation isinitiated by unloading the river barges 30. The preferred technique forunloading the river barges 30, as depicted schematically in FIG. 1C ofthe drawings is to align the barge 30 with which bow extensions of theriver barge 30 may be supported firmly by appropriate ballasting of thebarge. The housing units 20 are then lifted by the spreader lift 28b onthe barge carrier 32 and the carrier advanced along the length of thebarge onto the dock ramp 34 to a project terminal 38 in the vicinity ofthe dock ramp 34. At the project terminal 38 the housing units 20 aretemporarily stored. From the terminal 38, the housing units aretransported individually by truck transporters 40 along project streetsto the individual project lots on which the housing units are to beplaced, such lots having been previously prepared and provided withpermanent foundations 42 as shown in FIG. 1D. A project crane 44, alsoequipped with a spreader lift 28c, transfers the housing units 20 fromthe transporter 40 directly to the foundations 42. As depicted in FIG.1D, the housing units are completed by the assembly of roofs, garages,or other external appendages such as porches or the like. Also at thistime final large units of exterior trim are applied as well as exteriorfireplaces and the like.

To provide a clearer understanding of the method and apparatus of thepresent invention, particularly during the shipping and project phasesof the over operation described above, consideration will be given firstto the structural characteristics of the housing units 20 and theconditions which must be met during shipping and handling whilemaintaining the interiors of the units in the condition to which theywere finished at the factory It). In FIG. 2, the basic structuralcomponents of the housing units 20, using conventional wood frameconstruction, are depicted by lines representing floor joists 46, joistend plates 48, wall studs 50, ceiling joists 52, and wall stud caps 54.Though obviously, each of the housing units 20 include such additionalstructural components as interior walls which will supply a measure ofstrength in the completed unit, variation in interior design betweenunits limits meaningful analysis of structural integrity to the basiccomponents represented by the lines illustrated in FIG. 2 of thedrawings. In this context, it will be seen that the unit 20 possessesstructural integrity only in substantially discrete transverse sectionsestablished primarily by the floor joists 46 inasmuch as the othercomponents such as wall studs, ceiling joists and the like areultimately carried by the joists 46. Also it will be appreciated that ifinterior wall finishes such as plaster and gypsum board or dry wall areto be maintained in their initial factory condition, any external stresstending to deflect the initial positional relation of the componentsdepicted in FIG. 2 must be absorbed by these components themselves.While this latter factor is accounted for readily by proper sizeselection of materials from which the respective components are formed,it is apparent a dock ramp 34 having a bow support ledge 36 on that theinterrelation of the structural members will not be maintained unless anadequate foundation-like support is provided to retain the initialplanar orientation of the floor joists 46 within accepted deflectiontolerances. As an example, Universal Building Code requirements forstructural foundations limit joist deflection to onethree-hundred-sixtieth of Spam. The foundation support for the unit 20is depicted in FIG. 2 by arrows 56. In other words, the nature of thestructural components in the unit 20 are such that non-deflectingvertically oriented points of support must be provided on the oppositeends of each joist 46 if the initial planar orientation of the floorjoists is to be maintained.

In FIG. 3A of the drawings, a transverse section through the lowerportion of the unit is shown and illustrating the preferredconfiguration of a wood joist contemplated for the housing units 20 inaccordance with the invention where conventional wood frame constructionis employed. As shown in FIG. 3, the joists 46a span the entire width ofeach of the units and are provided with notches 58a at opposite endshaving a length l and a depth d. The notches 58a are provided tofacilitate handling of the units during the shipping and project phasesof the overall operation described above and also to provide at the endsof each joist, an overall depth corresponding to that which would beconventional were the housing units erected on the foundation 42a innormal fashion. The added depth of the joist represented by thedimension d, enables the joist to withstand interior floor loading ofthe unit while the latter is supported only at opposite ends. Thepermanent foundation 42a, having a central supporting beam 60, willaccommodate the additional live interior loadings which may occur whenthe udit is occupied and in a manner to provide an exceptionally strongand rigid floor.

In FIGS. 38 and 3C of the drawings, alternative forms of floorstructures contemplated for the housing units are shown. Thus in FIG. 3,a concrete slab 61 having T-joist sections 46b reinforced by rods 62 isprovided. In this instance the foundation 42 on the lot site is replacedwith pedestals 63 spaced at appropriate increments over. the area of thefloor as needed to support the slab 61. In FIG. 3C, steel truss units460 are substituted for the wooden joists 46a in the embodiment of FIG.3A. Thus it will be seen that the system of the present invention lendsitself to a variety of conventional construction materials andtechniques.

In light of the foregoing discussion of FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings,it-will be appreciated that during the shipping and project phases ofthe operation in which the method and apparatus of the present inventionare employed, the coplanar orientation of the joists 46 must bemaintained.

An understanding of the sea-going or ocean barge 22 and the manner inwhich the housing units 20 are loaded, stowed and unloaded using eitherthe dock crane 24 or the barge crane 26 equipped with the spreader lift28, may be had be FIGS. 4-14 of the drawings. As shown in FIG. 4, thebarge 22 is formed with a sea-going hull having a bow section 70, amidship section 72 at a bifurcated stern section 74 adapted for trunnionconnection to a pusher tugboat 76. The trunnion interconnection of thetugboat 76 with the stern of the barge 22 is effected in a mannerdisclosed fully in US. Pat. No. 3,512,495 issued on May 19, 1970 toEdwin H. Fletcher. Although the size of the barge 2'2

1. In a marine transportation system for handling and transporting factory constructed housing units, each providing completely finished, mechanically operable interior living space ranging in single floor area size to 2000 square feet or more and having structural integrity only in discrete transverse sections defined in part by transverse beam members establishing floor support of sufficient strength to carry the full dead load of the housing unit when supported only near the ends of such members, the housing units being of a common width and varying only in length to provide the range of floor area size, the combination comprising: a marine vessel having a hull structure establishing at least one stowage cell of a transverse dimension sufficiently in excess of the common width of the housing units to provide clearance space between opposite sides of the housing units and the interior of the cell, of a length to accommodate a plurality of said units in end to end relation and of a depth to accommodate multiple tiers of said units, means mounted on said hull structure to provide a foundation-like support for each tier of said housing units, said foundation-like support means for each tier including a plurality of longitudinally aligned beams along each side of said stowage cell, said beams for at least the tiers elevated in relation to the bottom of the stowage cell each being carried by a pair of arms pivotally connected to said hull structure for movement between a load carrying position under opposite ends of said housing unit transverse beam members and a retracted position out of said clearance space on opposite sides of said housing units, and spreader lift means for transferring said housing units to and from said stowage cell, said spreader lift means including a pair of generally parallel, rigid linear support members, each of a length corresponding to the full length of the housing unit to be transferred, means supporting said support members for movement between a retracted position spaced from each other by a distance in excess of a common house width and in which the spreader lift means can be lowered downwardly over a housing unit positioned in said stowage cell, and a lifting position in which said continuous support members engage the underside of the housing unit transverse beam members near the outer ends thereof and means to maintain said continuous linear support meMbers in mono-planar relation at least while in said lifting position irrespective of floor area loading variation in the housing unit, said longitudinally aligned beams of the support means for each tier having unobstructed linear top surfaces lying in a single plane to establish said foundation-like support irrespective of the longitudinal location of a housing unit in said cell and said top surfaces of said beams elevated in relation to said arms or other supporting structure to provide clearance space under the housing units enabling movement of said support members from said retracted position to said lifting position, whereby said housing units may be supported by rigid, essentially mono-planar linear support means along closely adjacent parallel lines of support during both stowage in said load cells and during transfer thereof to and from said stowage cell.
 2. The system recited in claim 1 wherein the length of said spreader lift means and of said rigid linear support members is adjustable to accommodate variations in the length of the individual housing units.
 3. The system recited in claim 1 wherein said marine vessel is a sea-going barge.
 4. The system recited in claim 1 wherein said hull structure defines a flat-bottomed exterior hull configuration for use of said marine vessel as a river barge.
 5. The system recited in claim 1 wherein said stowage space is defined on opposite sides by a series of vertical columns arranged longitudinally of said stowage space in uniform spacing increments.
 6. The system recited in claim 5 including first guide means supported on said columns facing into said stowage space and second guide means on said spreader lift means cooperable with said first guide means to restrict horizontal movement between said spreader lift means and said hull structure when said spreader lift means are positioned within said housing unit stowage space. 